Tea-bag package and carton



June 11, 1935. s, COOPER 2,094,486

TEA BAG PACKAGE AND CARTON Filed Feb. 16, 1954 JNVENTOR.

Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES TEA-BAG PACKAGE AND CARTON SimonCooper, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Cooper Tea Packet Company,Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 16,1934, Serial No. 711,461

1 Claim. This invention relates to packages of tea-bags, and to cartonsfor such packages.

The invention provides a package in which tea-bags are held, displayed,etc. in a compact, 5 orderly, and attractive manner. It provides apackage in which the tea-bags are maintained in their originalarrangement despite fairly rough handling and jolting, and from whichindividual tea-bags may be removed leaving the remainder held andmaintained in the original arrangement thereof.

It further provides a novel, one-piece, folding carton which isself-sustaining in its folded or set-up condition.

' An embodiment of said invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the package;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2, 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3, 3, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the one-piece foldingbox-blank.

Fig. 5 is a, perspective view of the blank shown in Fig. 4 set up inbox-form, one end only being shown.

Referring to said drawing, numerals I to ill". designate tea-bags. Thesetea-bags are preferably formed in such manner that the port ons I2 30and I3 of the envelope are cupped in the middle so as to provide aspecially formed space in the middle portion of the tea-bag for holdingthe contents of tea-leaves. The envelope portions I2 and I3 of thetea-bags may be formed of perforated Cellophane, textile fabric, or thelike, bound together at the marginal portions I by stitches Ill.

The package, according to my invention is composed of a, series oftea-bags III to l0, of a board 20, preferably having upstanding sidesand ends and constituting an open-top box or tray, and a wrapper 22overlying said series of tea-bags and arranged to press the tea-bagsagainst said board 20, as hereinafter more fully described.

A series of tea-bags Ill-Ill are arranged in a uniform series along theboard 20. The arrangement of the tea-bags is such that one tea-bagoverlaps another, with the fillings in the middle portions of theinvididual tea-bags close- 50 1y juxtaposed, and with the marginalportions of the individual tea-bags overlapping the midportionscontaining the tea-fillings of the adjacent tea-bags.- In general, thetea-bags rest in an inclined position, partly upon the board 55 andpartly n one another. The wrapper 22 extends across the tops of theseries of tea-bags l0i0 making contact with the marginal portions l5 atthe high-side of the inclined tea-bags, and with the middle portionscontaining the tealeaves, and acts to press the series of tea-bags 5against the board 20, and hold them in their original arrangement evenwhen the package is subjected to fairly rough handling and jolting.

The board 20, as heretofore stated is preferably in the form of open-topbox or trays. The sides I 10 and ends of the box moreover are preferablyprovided at their upper portions with inward projections 35, 50,extending partially over the inside of the box, formed from the samematerial as the sides by bending. These inward projections con- 15stitute a frame partially confining and partially exposing the contentsand contribute to the good apearance of the package as a whole. The bend21 at the joint between the sides and projections 35, 50 is less apt totear the wrapper than 20 would be the case of box-sides terminating 'inplain edges. With such a box or tray the height of the sides 25. is madeless than the height of the overlapped series of tea-bags, so that theaforesaid middle portions of the tea-bags and 25 the marginal portions15 lying upon said middle portions are of greater height than said sidesand project above said sides. The wrapper 22 extending over the seriesof tea-bags, Ill-I09, will make contact with and press upon said seriesof tea-bags to hold them inan orderly arrangement, as hereinbeforedescribed. Moreover, by removing the portion of the wrapper 22 over onetea-bag at a time, the tea-bags may be removed one at a time, the othersbeing held against the board 20 by the remaining parts of the wrapperand their orderly arrangement maintained.

The wrapper 22 is preferably of Cellophane, and the ends of the wrappermay be lapped and fastened by an adhesive, or may be fastened to theboard 20.

By the means described the tea-bags are held and displayed in an orderlyand attractive manner, and the customer can readily ascertainthe numberand quality of the tea-b gs which are purchased.

The box or tray 20 is conveniently a folding-' box made from a one-pieceblank, and is illustratedmore particularly in Figs. 4 and 5. The board20 constitutes the bottom of the box. Numerals 30 and 3| designate thesides, the corner between the sides and board 20 being scored asindicated at 33. The sides are provided with marginal portions 35adapted to project inwardly over the interior of the box when the box isset up. Score-lines 3'! are provided between the marginal portions andthe side-portions 30, 3|. The side-portions 30, 3| are provided withtongues 39 adapted to be folded inward at the ends of the box, and inpart constitute the ends.

Scores 4| may be provided between the tongues 39 and the side-portions30, 3|. At the two ends of the board 20 are provided end-portionsadapted to be folded to look and hold the tongues 39 in the'set upposition of the box, and to constitute with these tongues 39 the ends ofthe box, and also provide projections over the interior of the box, atthe ends, corresponding to the projections 35. A score 53 is preferablyprovided at the corner between the board 20 and each of the end-portions45. Each of the endportions 45 is preferably provided with fourintermediate scores 55, 56, 51, and 58. The part 60 between the score 53and 55 stands upright at the end of a box, at the outside. The parts 63,63' are folded together and constitute the inward projection 50. At theline between the portions 63, 63 the slots 65 are provided. The ends ofthe overhanging inwardly projecting portions 35 are inserted in theseslots, and are pressed upon and gripped by the portions 63, 63' on eachside thereof. Theportion between the scores 51 and 58 corresponds to theportion 60 and folds inward so as to lap the tongues 39 from the insideof the box and thereby. confine the latter between the folded portions60, 60'. The portions 10 are arranged to lie against the board 20 at itsinside or bottom of the box. The folded parts 63, and 60' act to forcethe portions 10 against the bottom 20 of the box, and this together withthe friction between the parts 10 and the bottom of the box serves tomaintain the folded box-parts in their set-up position.

The invention may receive other embodiments than that hereinspecifically illustrated and described.

What is claimed is:

A package comprising an elongated box, a plurality of tea-bags along thebottom of said box in one space, the tea-fillings being centered andclosely juxtaposed and the marginal portions of the envelopes ofsuccessive tea-bags lapping the mid-portions containing the teafillingsof adjacent tea-bags, and a transparent wrapper extending across saidlapped tea-bags and around the box and pressing the tea-bags upon thebottom of said box, said box having at its sides up-standing portions ofless height than the high-portions of the series of lapped tea-bags andconfining said series at the sides, and said up-standing portions havinginwardly projecting portions overlying the margins of said series oftea-bags at the sides.

SIMON COOPER.

